NevGold (NAU.V) has released assay results from the drill program at the Resurrection Ridge target, which is part of the Limousine Butte project in Nevada. These two holes are the first assay results from Resurrection disclosed by the company since February 2022.
Hole LB21-005 and RR22-001 were drilled towards the northeast of the past producing pit and the known mineralization, and both holes intersected oxide-hosted gold mineralization. While hole 21-005 was relatively weak with 83 meters of 0.21 g/t gold, there was a higher grade interval of 20.2 meters containing 0.35 g/t gold starting at about 64.5 meters downhole. 0.35 g/t would definitely make the cutoff grade and even the 0.21 g/t zone, although low grade, would make it onto a leach pad as the traditional cutoff for oxide-hosted gold deposits in Nevada is usually around 0.14-0.17 g/t.
So, an okay hole, but nothing more than that. Hole RR22-001 is a different story. The drill bit intersected 74.7 meters of 0.53 g/t gold including a higher grade interval of 19.9 meters of 0.81 g/t starting at about 91.4 meters downhole. The true width for both holes is expected to be 70% to 90% of the reported width and this means the true width of the 0.53 meter interval is likely exceeding 50 meters. Finding a continuous interval of that size is a major accomplishment. Additionally, there doesn’t appear to be any ‘smearing’ (it was an RC hole anyway) as even if you would exclude the 19.9 meters of 0.81 g/t gold from the equation, the average gold grade in the residual 54.8 meters would be 0.43 g/t which is more than twice as high as the typical cutoff grade for an oxide deposit in Nevada.
Not is the grade in RR22-001 good and the thickness excellent, perhaps even more important is the location of the hole. Lower-grade hole LB21-004 expanded the mineralized footprint by in excess of 100 meters from previously reported hole LB21-004 (which contained 61.6 meters of 2.19 g/t gold), hole 22-001 confirms the potential to step out from the currently known mineralization. And just to give you an idea of how important these step-outs can be; they also validate the potential expansion of the mineralization by another kilometer to the northeast of the area that was just drilled.
The current mineralized footprint now extends over 700 meters along strike and about 350 meters laterally. Applying an average thickness of the mineralization of 60 meters results in almost 40 million tonnes of rock. Applying an average grade of 0.50 g/t (it could and should be higher given the previously disclosed intervals as every single hole but LB21-005 encountered a grade exceeding 0.5 g/t gold) yields 600,000 ounces of gold. A grade of 0.7 g/t could add another quarter of a million ounces. Needless to say the Resurrection Ridge target is now shaping up like it could host a million ounces by itself and this could push the greater Limousine Butte project closer to becoming a 2 million ounce deposit once you add in Cadillac Valley and the low-hanging fruit there.
Of course more drilling will be required, but 1 million ounces at Limousine Butte now appears to be a conservative scenario and we can’t rule out seeing a number of twice that.
Disclosure: The author has a long position in NevGold. NevGold is a sponsor of the website. Please read our disclaimer.
